"Very many pleasures are almost only pleasures because we hope and intend to recount them." –Giacomo Leopardi

Tag Archives: Metaxa

There, on the bar in front of you, sits a tawny temptress in a tumbler. In its center floats a single frozen rock, like an iceberg surrounded by an amber ocean.

Swirl the glass and inhale the heady scent of honey. Taste it, and picture prunes, figs, and ripe raisins. Let it rest a moment on your tongue, and wait for another wave of flavour: zesty orange peel and the sultry spice of clove.

Swallow it, and feel the heat of the alcohol, like the smoky embers of a fire.

It is as if someone had distilled the very essence of a Christmas pudding.

“But…what is it, really?” you think, closing your eyes and searching for an answer from the spirit world. Could it be cognac? An aged rum? Bourbon, perhaps?

It is, in fact, none of the above. It is METAXA 12 Stars, one of approximately ten expressions of METAXA, a unique Greek liquor that defies categorization.

METAXA 12 Stars. Courtesy METAXA.

Founded by Spyros Metaxa in 1888, his eponymous brand is a blend of aromatic Muscat wines, wine distillates aged in toasted French limousin oak barrels, and a secret mix of Mediterranean botanicals.

METAXA French limousin oak cask. Courtesy METAXA.

You might attempt to shoehorn METAXA in among its brandy brethren, but it was officially pruned from that family tree in 1989. Today, it stands on its own, proudly sporting the banner of the “one-of-a-kind” Greek spirit, METAXA.